- https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback
"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
- Dennis Prager v Cedars-Sinai Lawsuit
- Dennis Prager Through Randall Collins: Interaction Ritual Chains
- What is a ‘Received Idea’?
- Jordan Bardella: The Manufacture of Normality
- Everyone Became Television: Bourdieu’s Warning and the 2026 Iran War
- Marine Le Pen
- The Coalition-Proximity Rule
- Nigel Farage
- Bernard Haykel: A Life Between the Text and the Gun
- Walker Connor (1926-2017)
- Benedict Anderson and the Nation as Imagination
- Anthony D. Smith: The Student Who Kept the Question and Rejected the Answer
- Ernest Gellner
- Eric Kaufmann: The Man Who Made the Majority Visible
- Dominic Cummings: A Biography
- Steve Lopez: The Last City Columnist
- California Historian Kevin Starr
- Stephen Kotkin: A Life in Power
- William T. Vollmann: An American Life in Excess
- Rod Dreher: A Life in Exile
BEST POSTS:
- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
* The City of Private Rooms (5-25-26)
Category Archives: R. Gershon Bess
The Hero System of Rabbi Gershon Bess
Six weeks before Pesach the office on Beverly Boulevard fills with paper. Companies write back, or refuse to. A legal department permits an answer by phone and forbids one in writing. Another sends a letter that says the product holds … Continue reading
Posted in R. Gershon Bess
Comments Off on The Hero System of Rabbi Gershon Bess
Decoding Rabbi Gershon Bess
ChatGPT says: Through Alliance Theory, Alliance Theory is best understood as a boundary hardener whose primary function is to preserve Orthodox Jewish cohesion by making limits unmistakable in an environment that constantly rewards drift. Bess’s role is not outreach and … Continue reading
Posted in R. Gershon Bess
Comments Off on Decoding Rabbi Gershon Bess
LA Orthodox Rabbis Explain Abuse Policy
REPORT: A rabbinical group called the Halachic Advisory Board has released a statement following a speech by Simi Yarmush, a California resident who accused rabbis for not aiding her when she came forward about being abused at a young age. … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, R. Avrohom Union, R. Gershon Bess
Comments Off on LA Orthodox Rabbis Explain Abuse Policy
Sima Yumash – An Orthodox Victim Of Childhood Sexual Abuse – Tells Her Los Angeles Story
Jewish Community Watch (JCW) names the abuser as Rabbi Sholom Dovber Levitansky: Sholom (Dovber) Levitansky has been added to the Wall of Shame due to his alleged sexual abuse of a number of female minors. Multiple victims came forward and … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Chabad, Debbie Fox, Jewish Journal, R. Avrohom Union, R. Berish Goldenberg, R. Gershon Bess, R. Yosef Shusterman, Rabbis, RCC, Santa Monica
Comments Off on Sima Yumash – An Orthodox Victim Of Childhood Sexual Abuse – Tells Her Los Angeles Story
Rabbi Gershon Bess Forbids Consumption Of Most Fish
I wonder if the RCC will force all their restaurants to stop selling fish? An Orthodox rabbi tells me about Rabbi Bess and the RCC: “These people don’t know what they are talking about when they prohibit these things. The … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy, R. Gershon Bess, RCC
Tagged 5tjt, fish report, rabbinic leaders, rav elyashiv, selling fish, shulchan aruch
Comments Off on Rabbi Gershon Bess Forbids Consumption Of Most Fish
Is The Purpose Of Religion To Aggrandize Yourself Or To Serve God?
That’s the question I think about when I look at Jewish Los Angeles. When the Orthodox Union puts its hashgacha (kosher certification) on toilet bowl cleanser and water, is that just for making money or is there a divine reason … Continue reading
Posted in Kashrut, Orthodoxy, R. David Rue, R. Gershon Bess, R. Yehuda Bukspan, RCC
Tagged halakhic questions, jewish los angeles, personal aggrandizement, rabbi yehuda, rabbinical council of california, toilet bowl cleanser, torah text
Comments Off on Is The Purpose Of Religion To Aggrandize Yourself Or To Serve God?
What Animates Rabbi Gershon Bess?
He’s the most powerful Orthodox rabbi in Los Angeles. The yeshiva and kollel communities look to him for guidance. He is the power behind the RCC. What does he want? What is his vision? He strikes me as a man … Continue reading
Posted in R. Gershon Bess, R. Yehuda Bukspan
Tagged bess, David Rue, gershon, Kollel, orthodox community, orthodox rabbi, rabbi elyashiv, RCC
Comments Off on What Animates Rabbi Gershon Bess?
An Original Mind At Beth Jacob
Rabbi Kalman Topp is giving a bunch of classes at Beth Jacob and he prepares original content for each one (just like the rabbis at Bnai David and the rabbi at YICC much of the time). Rabbi Topp is fluent … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Jacob, R. Gershon Bess, R. Steven Weil, RCC
Tagged ari kahn, Beth Jacob, david hartman, Dennis Prager, marc gafni, orthodox rabbi
Comments Off on An Original Mind At Beth Jacob
